Nobuyuki Watanabe (July 25, 1930 – August 20, 2019) was born in the Miyazaki Prefecture. Sumo was the first Budo on his way and at secondary school, he started Judo. He also made Jukenjutsu but really liked and considered Judo to be the best martial art possible before he got thrown with the Shiho-Nage…
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We’ve met Morito Suganuma Shihan earlier on the site in a post with the warm-ups but he really deserves more… He was born on July 27, 1942, in Fukushima, Japan. He knew about the Aikido from an early age and heard about O-Sensei a few times but only at Asia University in Tokyo, he was able to join a Nobuyoshi Tamura‘s Aikido class. He continued at the Hombu Dojo, where future Sensei was surrounded by the greats with the Morihei Ueshiba as in charge.
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Gozo Shioda (September 9, 1915 – July 17, 1994) one of the most senior students of the Aikido founder and a creator of the Yoshinkan Aikido style.
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Morihei Ueshiba (December 14, 1883 – April 26, 1969) founded Aikido as a martial art. He is often called O-Sensei which literally means the great teacher.
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Tsuruzo Miyamoto was born on March 30, 1953, on the island of Kyushu, Japan. He is an 8 Dan and one of the most respected Hombu Shihans at the moment.
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Morihiro Saito (March 31, 1928 – May 13, 2002) was born in the Ibaraki prefecture, Japan. He practiсed Aikido for 56 years and been one of the few 9 Dan-holders in the Aikikai.
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Christian Tissier was born on February 7, 1951, in Paris, France. He began aikido at the age of 11 under the Jean-Claude Tavernier in his native city and soon on moved to train under the Mutsuro Nakazono, 7 Dan Aikido Aikikai. In 1968 Christian received a 2nd Dan from Nakazono Sensei and made a plan to go to Japan after.
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Koichi Tohei (20 January 1920 – 19 May 2011) was a first one to be promoted to a 10 Dan by the Morihei Ueshiba ever. He taught people like Hiroshi Tada, Seigo Yamaguchi, Mitsugi Saotome, Sadateru Arikawa, Kazuo Chiba, Yoshimitsu Yamada, Steven Seagal and many others.
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Ulf Evenas Shihan was born on 3 November 1946 in Trollhattan, Sweden. His Budo way began with a Kyokushin Karate but soon after, in 1968, he switched to Aikido which he studied under Carl Hansson in Gothenburg who had a background in Judo, Ju-Jitsu.
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Hayato Osawa is an 8 Dan Aikido Aikikai Shihan. He is a son of the Kisaburo Osawa and one of the main instructors at Hombu just as his father was.
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Masando Sasaki (February 1, 1929 – February 15, 2013) – was an 8 Dan Aikido Aikikai Shihan and a Shinto priest. Was an Otomo for the O-Sensei and been teaching in the Hombu Dojo.
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Hirokazu Kobayashi (February 14, 1929 – August 28, 1998) was an Aikido teacher with a rank of 8 Dan. He created the Kobayashi Aikido style that is still practiced around the world.
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Steven Seagal is a well-known actor, producer, screenwriter, musician… Ukraine Bans Steven Seagal Over ‘National Security’, Steven Seagal asked to teach Aikido to Serbia’s special police forces, Steven Seagal granted Russian citizenship by Vladimir Putin, Is Steven Seagal actually a police officer? Is Steven Seagal actually a martial artist? There are a lot of interesting and not much-known facts about his life and especially from the Aikido perspective.
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Haruo Matsuoka was Steven Seagal‘s most important student for more than 20 years. He followed Steven to the USA from Japan, participated in the movies, was a Chief Instructor in Steven Seagal’s Tenshin Dojo in Los Angeles for 8 years…
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Yoshiaki Yokota Shihan was born in 1958. He was a Captain of the Judo Club in a Junior High School at the age of 12. He soon found more interest in Karate and joined an Aikido club in a High School.
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Mitsugi Saotome Shihan is one of the few former OSensei’s uchi-deshi’s still alive. He saw with his eyes all those things we read about. Sensei fully devoted himself to the Aikido and Ueshiba’s and you will learn why inside.
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Yasuo Kobayashi is a Japanese 8 Dan Aikido Aikikai Shihan. He is chief of the Aikido Kobayashi Dojo organization with more than 100 Dojos around the world.
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Shoji Seki Shihan was born on 6 March 1950 in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. While he was a student in a Musashi Institute of Technology in Tokyo a group of the aikidokas was giving a demonstration and in 1969 Shoji joined.
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Katsuaki Asai was learning aikido under the guidance of the Morihei Ueshiba himself. He was born on 18 February 1942 in Tokyo and joined Hombu Dojo in 1955 being just 13 years old. After 10 years of intensive training with O-Sensei, Katsuaki was already the 4th Dan and been giving aikido lessons at the Meiji University of Tokyo.
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There are only a few direct O-Sensei disciples left alive and Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei is one of them. He holds a rank of the 8 Dan in Aikikai and is a teacher with a name known all over the world. This is one reason he is so respected and demanded. A bigger reason is his high aikido skill, unique style and colossal contribution to the Aikido.
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